Date: September 22, 2009 Document id: ALRC-COS-12-09-2009 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 4, General Debate An Oral Statement to the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status BURMA and SRI LANKA: Council required to take effective action to address human rights crises Thank you Mr. President, The Council is currently failing to effectively address human rights crises, for example those in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. This is not simply a failing of political will, but also one of approach. In Sri Lanka, the continuing grave situation of IDPs is testimony to this. Furthermore, the […]
Category: Oral Statements
ASIA: Council-members violating the rights and work of Human Rights Defenders
Date: September 22, 2009 Document id: ALRC-COS-12-10-2009 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 3, General Debate An Oral Statement to the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status ASIA: Council-members violating the rights and work of Human Rights Defenders Thank you Mr. President, The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) notes that in the majority of Asian nations, human rights defenders and NGOs continue to face a range of impediments to their work, harassment and legal or physical attacks, including in Council member-States. In the Philippines, a list produced by the military, known as the ‘Order […]
SOUTH ASIA: Sale and trafficking of children denounced in dialogue with Special Rapporteur
Date: September 16, 2009 Document id: ALRC-COS-12-08-2009 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 3, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children An Oral Statement to the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status SOUTH ASIA: Sale and trafficking of children denounced in dialogue with Special Rapporteur Thank you Mr. President, The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the report and work of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Data collected in separate studies between 2005 and 2008 conducted by USAID, UNICEF, the ILO and […]
ASIA: The ALRC underlines flaws in Asia’s institutions of the rule of law during UN debate
Date: September 15, 2009 Document id: ALRC-COS-12-07-2009 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 2: General Debate An Oral Statement to the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status ASIA: The ALRC underlines flaws in Asia’s institutions of the rule of law during UN debate Thank you Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner, In most Asian nations, many barriers to the protection and enjoyment of human rights stem not simply from a lack of means, but from the efforts by States to ensure the inability of national institutions of the rule of law to deliver justice and […]
Oral Statements – 61st Session of the CHR – 2005
Oral Statements – 61st Session of the CHR – 2005 Oral Statements – 61st Session of the CHR – 2005 ITEM 9 : Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world: Human rights violations in Nepal [Word Format] ITEM 10: Economic, social and cultural rights: Starvation in West Bengal, India [Word Format] ITEM 11: Civil and political rights: The lack of implementation of international conventions, Sri Lanka[Word Format] ITEM 16: Report of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Proposal by Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights for appointment of two Special Rapporteurs to Study Discrimination based […]
Item 6: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination — Indonesia: Five years after May 1998 rights, those responsible for the atrocities remain at large
Download this file in Word format Indonesia: Five years after May 1998 rights, those responsible for the atrocities remain at large Statement read by Timothy R. Gill of the Asian Legal Resource Centre Mr. Chairperson, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. In May 1998, thousands of Indonesian citizens were murdered and raped, and vast amounts of property destroyed during racist riots against the Chinese community in Jakarta. Five years later, those responsible for the atrocities remain at large. The Joint Fact Finding Team established to inquire into the 1998 massacres found that there were serious and systematic human rights violations throughout Jakarta. The Team also found […]
Item 18: Effective Functioning of Human Rights Mechanisms — ALRC’s Oral Statement on Implementing the recommendations of UN Working Groups
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 59TH SESSION Item 18: Effective Functioning of Human Rights Mechanisms Implementing the recommendations of UN Working Groups Statement read by Ali Saleem of the Asian Legal Resource Centre Chairperson I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. In 1989, Mr Ajith Luxman disappeared. He was one of over 30,000 Sri Lankan citizens who were kidnapped without a trace during a period of intense repression. Due to domestic and international pressure, the Government of Sri Lanka was forced to act on these cases. It undertook to abide by the recommendations of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances (E/CN.4/1992/18/Add.1, para 204), and […]
Oral Statements – 59th Session of the CHR
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 59TH SESSION Item 11: Civil and Political Rights SRI LANKA: Torture in Sri Lanka Statement read by Ali Saleem of the Asian Legal Resource Centre Chairperson I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. This February, Mr Michael Anthony Fernando submitted a motion to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka regarding a fundamental rights violation case in which he is the applicant. The motion requested that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court not sit in judgement on Mr Fernando’s application, and offered ample grounds for this request. The Chief Justice sat on the bench that heard the motion. The bench then […]
Item 10: Food insecurity in Myanmar — ALRC’s Oral Statement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Download this file in Word format UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 59TH SESSION ITEM 10: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Food insecurity in Myanmar Statement read by Ali Saleem of the Asian Legal Resource Centre Mr. Chairman I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. What is the connection between white elephants and economic development? This March, a prominent Myanmar historian, Dr Than Tun, said that there isn’t any. The Government of Myanmar has now banned him from publishing articles in local magazines. Dr Than Tun made his observation after the Government of Myanmar captured a number of white elephants, which are considered sacred. State media reported […]
Item 9: A crime against humanity in Gujarat — ALRC’s Oral Statement on the Question of the Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in any part of the World
Download this file in Word format UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 59TH SESSION ITEM 9: question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world A crime against humanity in Gujarat Statement read by Timothy Richard Gill of the Asian Legal Resource Centre Mr. Chairman On behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre, I would like to draw the Commission’s attention to the findings of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal Gujarat 2002. The Tribunal was formed in response to the anti-Muslim carnage in the state of Gujarat, India, during February and March of 2002. Hundreds of people were killed, women and children sexually abused […]